Poke ʻUlu (Hawaiian Breadfruit Poke)

The canoe brought more than people. It brought relatives. In Hawaiʻi, ʻulu, the breadfruit, stands with kalo and ʻuala as one of the old foods that fed the body and held the people close to the ʻāina, kānaka, meaʻai, land, people, food. I learned kalo first, yeah, with my hands in the poi. But the old people knew ʻulu too, high in the tree, heavy with starch, waiting for the right hand and the right season.

This is a Hawaiian bowl, poke ʻulu. Poke in our ʻōlelo means to cut crosswise or slice, and back home most people hear it and think fish: ʻahi with limu, ʻinamona, onion, salt, maybe shoyu and sesame the way we eat now. Here the fish steps aside and the canoe crop comes forward. Cooked ʻulu gets cubed while it's still firm and creamy, then dressed with the things that make a poke bowl speak Hawaiian: limu, the seaweed from the reef, ʻinamona, roasted kukui nut relish, sweet onion, sesame, and salt.

The cousins know this breadfruit too. Tahiti has ʻuru, the Marquesas have mei, Sāmoa and Tonga know ʻulu, and across the ocean people bake it, pound it, ferment it, and feed the family from it. One ocean, one canoe, one root, even when the tree fruit hangs over a different yard.

So don't make this precious. Bring it to a potluck in a wide bowl, next to rice, greens, grilled food, Spam musubi if that's the table, no shame. Just cook the ʻulu fully, dress it while it can still drink, and remember you're not using a trend ingredient. You're feeding people from a relative.